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Your rights

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Ask for your information

A woman sits cross-legged on the ground holding a plan white sign about her head. She wears dark pants and a teal t-shirt. She has long dark hair and looks happy. The Privacy Act gives everyone in New Zealand the right to ask almost any business or organisation for the information they have about them. Small and large businesses, government departments, schools, sports clubs, charities, and community groups all need to comply with this right. The Privacy Act calls them agencies. 

Use our AboutMe tool to request your information

You can request your information by email, letter, phone, or in person. 

You can’t ask for another person’s information unless you’re acting on their behalf and have written permission. 

Read the details about accessing personal information in IPP 6.

Charging for access to personal information

In most circumstances, you should not be charged to access or correct your personal information. Read more information about charges.

Timeframes for answering your request

The agency must respond to a request for information within 20-working days. Use the response calendar in the sidebar of this page to work out when you can expect your information. Usually the response and the provision of the information will happen at the same time. Other times, the agency will acknowledge your request and then provide the information later (but it needs to be without undue delay). 

In limited circumstances, the agency can extend the 20-working day timeframe, but they must tell you why and update you on when they’ll give you the information. 

Urgent requests

You can make an urgent request but must explain why it is urgent. The agency can refuse the request for urgency but need to tell you why if they do. 

Agencies transferring requests

If the agency you’ve contacted isn’t the right place to help you, they can transfer it to another place. If they do, then they need to tell you within 10-working days.

What to do if the agency doesn’t respond

If they don't respond, contact their privacy officer. If the privacy officer can't resolve your issue then you can make a complaint to the Privacy Commissioner.

Right to Know day

Each 28 September we promote ‘Right to Know Day’, which is about raising awareness of people’s right to information about themselves. Read our factsheet about Right to Know Day.

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